Utopia is a marvel of a headphone. An engineering masterpiece. I had the OG Clear for a brief time long time ago, but I own the Utopia for years now, and let me tell you, don't be fooled by "plug it into your phone", "headphone type of listening experience". Utopia is a totl set in every sense, it scales with the electronics to the very very top. It can sound as wide and as spacious as the HD800 on a good DAC and AMP (I tried it on Holo May L2 -> Burson Soloist GT, both dual mono) and the sound stage was immense, same on good tube amps (tested on HA6a), Utopia will scale with your stack up to the very very top. I tested it against the Susvara, 1266 TC and loads of other sets and let me tell you, it trades punches with all of them, it's trully amazing. Not sure how far you can take the Clear, but you can take Utopia very very far indeed.
@HeadphonePH2 жыл бұрын
Quite insightful, thanks for sharing Kris! The widest I've heard the Utopia was with the Feliks Euforia and even then, it's still not as wide as the HD800/s. But otherwise I tend to agree. Initially ran off the Utopia with sub 100 amps like the Magni 3+, THX and it was uninspiring. That's why I think the Clear has a clear place as a lot of people tend to not spend as much into source and amplifier as they do with the headphone, and the Clear sounds good in itself.
@krisrudecki94772 жыл бұрын
@@HeadphonePH if you can get your hands on a totl source like Dave or May or even TT2 and a totl amp like Hypsos Oor, Soloist GT, Volot or even HA6a, and then do a comparison of those sets, that would be interesting 🍻
@JTB--2 жыл бұрын
I've read all the responses... and let me tell you, your post on the Utopia is the most informative of the bunch
@hartyewh12 жыл бұрын
The Utopia is better than the Clear MG, but not to an extent that I would pay the difference for. They are very similar and most people could hardly tell the difference.
@falcodarkzz Жыл бұрын
As someone with both, youd have to be half deaf not to tell the difference
@hartyewh1 Жыл бұрын
@@falcodarkzz When EQ'd to the same target? Most people couldn't ABX them. People in the hobby is different.
@Chris-Kim2 жыл бұрын
I happen to own both Clears and Utopias and spent ample amount of time on comparing one and the other side by side. Utopias are punchier in bass and do have better resolution in treble but sometimes i feel like they are rather fatiguing for a long listening session. But for Clears, the general resolution is somewhat sacrificed compared to other high-end headphones but they are very pleasing to listen to. Technically Utopias are superior no doubt but I might recommend clears over utopias to my friends
@brothatwasepic Жыл бұрын
Hi all. GeorgeCurious Jacob here. I have splurged on the OG Clears and 2022 Utopias in my case and wow the utopias present the instruments with layers and depth like I have never heard before. Some headphones try to fake it by upping tremble and adding a bass shelf but honestly without any EQ the Utopias are on such a different level it is mind-blowing. I also have the equally upper tier HE1000SE and the utopias still beat it in imaging and layering/depth or separated instruments.
@pedrosantos36482 жыл бұрын
Great review, thanks. I sure would like to try the Utopia against my OG Clear, on the TT2.
@rem7926 ай бұрын
I love the Focal creaking sound right from the beginning when you lifted them up😂 Both of them! It's unacceptable. I bought Focals and regret it, the cable broke within a week and they creak when I breathe on them, not to mention the pads, they are very pricey.
@HeadphonePH6 ай бұрын
Haha I got used to it and is not a dealbreaker anymore. However yeah. More than grand and creaks, yikes!
@darthdurkelthewise3202 жыл бұрын
Really good review man! I have the Clear MG, and I’ve had the OG Clear and Arya so I’d agree with your comparisons here. I’m currently looking hard at the Utopia and I’ve spent some time with it and it’s a very impressive headphone in the way that it places you right in the room with the music. It’s stunning. Utopia just has some magic there for sure. However, my wallet recoils each time I consider the purchase. There is a pretty large gap between the two but the Clear is a great value for what you get. And let’s face it, most folks aren’t going to even hear a Utopia to compare much less agree to the price even used.
@kennethgross8079 Жыл бұрын
@headphone PH . I recently purchased the Clear OGs and a GS-X mini amp. They make a nice combo. As the Utopia “2020” has come way down in price, I am thinking about buying a used Utopia. Do you think that the Clear’s and Utopia’s sound signature are different enough to warrant keeping the Clear’s?
@fatdoi0032 жыл бұрын
I was auditioning Utopia, OG Clear and Elex.... Utopia out resolve others with more dynamics and speed.... That's what I got now.... Otherwise I'd get Elex instead... Very similar to Clear and less than 1/2 the price... In Clear/Elex, you can hear a piano playing, in Utopia you can hear the person playing the piano....
@deevnn2 жыл бұрын
and the Utopia is 3 times the price of the Clear.
@butwait10 ай бұрын
That's just not doing the clear the justice it deserves. I've got tracks where I can hear the pianist breathe and hum along with his own tracks. If you can't hear that sort of detail out of the clear than you should probably not spend that sort of cash on a headphone in the first place.
@gges16052 жыл бұрын
Think the choice of amp makes a really big difference with these headphone the arche is particularly good for focal headphones and I would love to hear utopias on it. I am currently using it with clear mgs and keep wondering if picking up the utopias would be worth it, they come up second hand fairly often.
@x32i772 жыл бұрын
Both do distort in the song 'Traust' from the band 'Heilung ' at over 85 db
@BrJD-ii4iv2 жыл бұрын
Yep. All Focals do, unfortunately 😐
@HeadphonePH2 жыл бұрын
Dont have the Utopia with me and tried it briefly with the Clear but I'm not sure I'm hearing that. Maybe it's not loud enough so I'll crank it up some more and report back here. Also that song is great! Happy to learn a new track to listen to
@x32i772 жыл бұрын
@@HeadphonePH thanks 😊
@MacXpert742 жыл бұрын
Which could be considered a 'good thing' as it will urge you to turn it down to a more reasonable volume and save you from getting tinnitus. 😉
@lulupiperu2 жыл бұрын
Just tried this with the Clear and I can confirm it starts to audibly distort/clip after 80dB. But I mean, at that point you can clearly listen to the song with the headphones laying on the desk in front of you.
@user-eb5ri3nf9d2 жыл бұрын
I have the focal clear worth upgrading to focal mg?
@HeadphonePH2 жыл бұрын
I've demo'ed the MG briefly in a store. I think it has a slightly different tuning than the original Clear but they're fairly similar. Personally I think going to the Clear MG is more sidegrading than upgrading really
@semtexxl40232 жыл бұрын
If you can get Utopia for around 2k it is definitelly worth it. Not the MSRP. Waste of money in comparison to Clear. Nice video btw thanks.
@HeadphonePH2 жыл бұрын
Yeah that's the price for a used pair. I'd even argue that no ultra high-end or flagship headphone is worth the retail price especially since it goes down super fast after some time.
@revelationsoundstudio2 жыл бұрын
Helpful review but the background music is distracting and it makes it hard to listen to what your saying
@HeadphonePH2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the feedback Keef! I try to lower the background music as much as I can but perhaps it wasnt enough for this one. Will keep in mind for the next videos
@wabbasMEpern2 жыл бұрын
You may have also been watching a too low of a resolution. KZbin compression is pretty wild sometimes. I found the background music levels to be fine.
@jacksonville49322 жыл бұрын
@@wabbasMEpern yep. The back ground noise is really average. I can hear him perfectly